Vincystploy Report.
Good evening, Welcome to the Royal Report.
I'm Caroline Derusso and coming up on the show tonight. King Charles has shared a health update during his recent visit to Southport.
We'll give you the details on that. Shortly.
Harry and Meagan have been slammed by Columbian officials following their faux royal tour and Prince Andrew's private security team reportedly axed. Russell mis will join us from London with the latest on that. But first, it's technically holiday time for the royal family at Balmoral, but is it really. It's been reported that King Charles, well, we know he's a little bit of a workaholic, and this week he
has visited Southport following the stabbing tragedy a few weeks back. Now, the King did say in the immediate aftermath of the stabbings and the ensuing riots that he would visit the town once the secure city situation had destabilized, so as not to put additional pressure on local services. Now, the King was very well received in Southport and his visit will hopefully help in some way to heal the deep hurt in that community. However, given his cancer treatment and
his already punishing schedule. It was interesting that he made his visit while he was at Balmoral rather than after his summer break. Now we have spoken many times on this show about the slim down Royal family and what may work effectively when everyone is match fit. Has tested the family in circumstances where both the King and Princess
Catherine have suffered significant health challenges. It's also been reported in The Herald's Sun this week that there are concerns that Charles's heavy schedule during his summer and Australia tour may threaten his full recovery from cancer. And while the King wants to be working and serving the people, it is imperative that there is some measure in that schedule so that he's in good physical condition to serve the
people better for longer. Now we know that Queen Camilla tries to be the voice of reason, but equally we understand that Charles has waited so long to be king, he's eager to absorb every moment and the trick is finding balance. No one with any sense would question the King for taking some time off to have a holiday and assist his recovery. And he shouldn't feel like he
can't take a breather. Joining me now is Sky News contributor Louise Roberts and commentator Samara gil Samara, the King is meant to be on holidays, but he's made this special visit to Southport in the aftermath of that terrible multiple stabbing last month. Can you tell us about the visit.
Hi, Carline, Great to be back with you.
Look, I mean, the royal family shines the brightest when there's the most division in the country and they're pretty much the only people that can unify us at a time like this. I think there's so much going on in the UK, so much polarization of each other, and I think it was a beautiful gesture by the King to leave.
Or not go to Balmoral, which is.
Historically, obviously was the Queen's favorite place. It's one of his favorite places. And you know, obviously he's still going through chemotherapy treatment. But no, he showed up stoic as he always is and did what he needed to do for this country and it was beautiful to see him speak to.
All the leaders of the community.
He spoke to the head of the mosque, he visited the families and had a tea party with the children. Unfortunately, a lot of those children actually witnessed the horror, and so I think a tea party with the king, something light, something a bit jovial, is exactly what they needed.
And you know, it's a.
Real it's a real sort of tube to Charles as a person, and it really showed his humanity.
It's just upsetting that Harry had to ruin it by.
Saying what happens online transfers onto the streets and sort of taking a gibe at Elon Musk and making it about himself. I think the king triumphed in the situation and showed who the bigger person was.
I absolutely agree with that.
In Luise, we have spoken before about how monarchy provides the stability in times of crisis, whether it be political or cultural or economic, and I think this is an excellent example of that engagement with everyday Britain's Like Samaras ed, that's.
Right, as you both said at the top of the show, that he's the easy way which he spoke to people who come to see him, and the reassurance that the monarch provides and has done historically for such a long time.
You think way back to World War Two when of course Queen Elizabeth, who then became the Queen Mother, refused to leave London even though the Litz was happening, and she stayed there, and people in London and tomorrow may know this well still talk about the fact that the royal family stayed in the capital rather than flee to the countryside to safety as well, and of course during coronavirus where we're all sort of crippled by COVID nineteen,
Queen Elizabeth then of course made that sort of unprecedented televised addressed urging us to sort of remember our wartime spirit and to all stick together to try and fight this insidious pandemic at the time. So I think that people do look to the monarchy to provide that stability
and reassurance. And the difference of cause is that Charles is a political So although the Prime Minister of course will go to certain situations, there's always a fear, there's an agenda, it's a popularity play for votes further down the line. But Charles is not like that. He really is just there for the people.
Very very well said and Samara, while he was in Southport Charles also provide us with an update on his health.
What did he have to say?
Yeah, it was really nice.
Actually, one of the reporters asked him about his health and he said, you know, I'm doing well, and it's just really a testament to his courage that he's doing chemotherapy, he's fully has cancer, and the fact that he still gets out there and visits the people of the United Kingdom says really a lot about him and our king and who we have to serve our country. So I think that it's really nice to see that same stoicism that obviously the Queen always had, but the fact that
he's going out there, he's shaking hands. As all reports said, he stayed much longer than he was meant to in Southport, making sure that he saw everyone, making sure that he said hello, was having those conversations and was trying to provide some unity to the community that is so divided right now.
And Louise, you know, we spoke last week on the show about the Sussexes and they're not royal Royal tour to Columbia. Well, a great question has been asked this week, and that is what did the Columbia Tree achieved.
Now it's over.
I mean last week on the show there was still a day or so to go.
Is there any more clarity at this point?
Well, what's been interesting is that Meghan and Harry of course said they were going to Columbia to highlight the dangers of child safety on the internet, and since then the Vice President of Columbia, Maquez, who invited them to Columbia, has said all the purpose of this trip was to boost international tourism and invite extra trade into the country.
So already there's a disconnect there and that sort of plays into some fears that perhaps bright and shiny Meghan and Harry were being used in some way.
I don't know.
But what's interesting as well is that their mission was wooly from the start. A campaign like this, a royal tour, has to have an objective, whether it's the government committee more money, or a global alliance or something. But Harry and Meghan don't have that pull. They're non working that they're not the working Royals anymore, so they don't have the gravitas to say William and Kate where they can
make these things happen. So really it becomes a platform for their publicity just to keep them relevant on a global stage.
And Samara has been reported that the Colombian security chief has hit out at the cost of the Sussex tour and there's obviously a socioeconomic crisis and cost of living crisis there like in other parts of the world now, the security fees were eyewatering'. It's not entirely clear who has paid for what, but it does look a little bit tone def.
Yeah, Louise is completely right when she talks about Marquez inviting them. Obviously Megan and Harry made it political in that way because it's a government aligned thing now, and so yeah, it's now becoming an issue that two point nine million dollars were spent on a three day tour for the royals. Of course, it's unclear who paid for that. We know that they paid for their own travel there, but that's sort of part and parcel of them actually coming.
I think that the whole tour really was very tone deaf. Megan, as per usual, wasn't really thinking about the optics in the way that maybe British or Australian people would.
She was obviously she's.
Wearing a ninety thousand dollar wardrobe and I think that's in pounds, so double it if you're over in Australia for a three day tour. Now, the average income in Colombia is just around ten thousand dollars per year, so she's worrying about ten years worth of the average income, you know, for a three day tour of Columbia, which is a country which is riddled with problems, it really is.
And the fact that that two point nine million dollars could have been spent on something a lot more critical to helping them, helping maybe mothers in the region, helping
fight the drug gangs that they face. It's really disappointing, to be honest, and I just feel like Harry and Meghan need to think about these things a little more before they think about themselves and put themselves on this worldwide privacy, you know, evasion of their privacy to just go on tour and promote I don't know, their jam pots that they're trying to sell. It just the whole thing is very muddled to me, and it just doesn't really make sense optically.
Now louise on to a bit more graceful advocacy, and we understand Queen Camilla is working on a new documentary.
What do we know so far?
Well, one of Camilla's key causes, a cause very close to her heart is domestic violence and raising the profile of that, and what she would say is breaking down the barriers of silence, which she says a lot of survivors have said to her is absolutely critical to a
stage in this sort of peril in society. So what's happened is that ITV have been filming her for about the past year for a documentary coming out later this year called Her Majesty, The Queen behind Closed Doors, And in that documentary, Camilla talks to a lot of survivors of DV, but also she does a lot of private work away from the cameras Megan take note, where she counsels these victims and sort of hears their story firsthand,
which is just fantastic. So to see this documentary play out on ITV I think will be wonderful because it will really raise the profile of this as a global issue, not only in the UK as well well. And she's also a patron of many groups who do advocate for victims of domestic violence. So all in all, it's a great exercise, a great documentary.
And Samara briefly back to the Sussexes, and we continue to hear stories about people distancing themselves from the Sussexes, where previously they may have been in better company.
What's been reported this time?
Well, I was going to say to you, obviously, happy birthday for yesterday Caroline made me think of Thomas Markle and the fact that he spent his eighty eighth alone without his grandchildren, begging through the media, which is the only way he can contact his daughter, which he gave his whole life for, and saying please, please, can I see my grandchildren. I'm turning eighty, I'm not getting any younger. So, you know, the Sussexes, they're always distancing their cells from people.
I mean, we forget that these people that to.
Their wedding instead of inviting their blood relatives or their family, they invited the.
Cloonies and Oprah.
And there's a very famous line of you know, George Clooney, sorry, Oprah asking the Cloonies, you know, how do you know Megan and sort of Amal saying, well, we don't, We've never met her, but you know she invited us here whereas she swiped her sister, her brother.
And all those other people that are included in her upbringing.
So you know, these people I'm not surprised by, obviously reports that Harry's friend.
He'll get the occasional WhatsApp. That's more than he gives a lot of people.
They are just interested in fulfilling their reputation their selves at this point, anyone who can't help them along the way is going to get biffed. And time and time again we see this, and I just feel bad for a lot of the people that are originally in Harry's life, you know, that have been completely let go of because they don't serve a purpose or they don't have the right look for him now and what he's trying to convey with his new Montecito sort of latte sipping life.
I love that.
I absolutely love that, And Louise, I've only got about thirty seconds. But lastly, a commentator has said that William wouldn't likely invite Harry to his coronation. That does seem severe not entirely unexpected. Are we at that point where there is no goodwill left?
There's very little good will we know between William and Harry, But to not have his brother at his coronation would be catastrophic, I think. I mean, this is the one thing the two of them have been working towards their entire lives when William becomes king. Now, Harry may Winge in his autobiography spare that he doesn't want any part of that, but really that's his lafe's purpose to support his brother when his brother is king. So I think it would just be unthinkable. Maybe Kate may come to
the rescue. There's also a report saying that she sort of mourns the friendship with Harry and is very grateful still for his support when she joined the royal family, which is, you know, a very difficult path to follow, as we know. So maybe Kate will be the peacemaker and this will never happen.
Let's hope. So, let's hope.
So, Louise, Robert, Samara Gil thank you so much both of you for joining us now. Coming up after the break and a new book has claimed that the late Queen wasn't fond of Donald Trump, but other sources disagree. Russell Myers with the details next Welcome back to the show. Joining me now is Royal editor for The Daily Mirror. Russell Myers Russell. Prince Andrew is back in the news this week with reports that the King is acting his personal security at home in the UK.
Can you tell us what this is all about?
Well, I can. He's a height there, Cara.
I mean, you know, it's not too often that we're not talking about Prince Andrew in this long running saga of the security issues, or where he's going to stay, where he's going to end up living, because Royal Lodge, this thirty room and mansion that he's still clinging on to,
is very much in the balance. The King has made it very clear that he should be moving out of there, that he can't afford the incredible renovations that it needs, and that he should possibly move into Harry and Meghan's old place from Moore Cottage just around the corner in the Windsor estate. But it's got even worse for Prince Andrew now he's going to be stripped of his ten person private security that the King is no longer winning
to pay for. Of course, you're seeing there the infamous BBC News Night interview that led to his downfall, and that has been the catalyst for the King to say, listen, you're not a working role anymore. You have no place within the family in the terms of a public role, being invited to private events with the family. Of course, they are still keeping him close and he's looking after his brother in that sense that as far as his public standing is considered, it is very very much gone
for good. And I think that this absolutely captivates the fact of how the King is thinking, no more security for Andrew, no more public role, and no role within the royal family for sure.
And while we're on controversial men, let's go to Donald Trump on a report this week that the Queen apparently found him rude. Now Trump has rejected that allegation, which surprises no one.
But what do we actually know.
Well, I'm sure the late Queen wouldn't be the only person who thought Donald Trump was rather rude.
I mean, she dealt with.
People that she didn't necessarily want to invite it foror the idiom men Robert mcgarbi had been invited over to London in years gone by, but the Queen always kept her counsel. She knew that she had a constitutional role to play. These people were often invited by the government of the day, but their new book by Craig Brown has sort of lifted the lid on her own personal
views of Donald Trump. Of course, when he came over to the UK, he was invited to Winsor Castle and everybody saw those cringe moments where Donald Trump was walking behind the Queen or she was having to walk behind him, and it all got a bit awkward. Now, the details in this book said that the Queen found it very rude that she found that Trump was always looking over her shoulder to see if there was any one more interesting. As you say, Donald Trump has refuted these allegations, which
surprises no one. So perhaps we'll never know, or perhaps I think it all is in the sort of body language that we saw at the time.
And now, look, we know this is in a new book, But why is this coming up now? Is it just because Trump news is always news? Writing about Trump is always going to be something that people like you and me are going to end up talking about.
And do you think it has any impact at all?
Obviously with the Americans going into their November presidential election, Well.
Listen, Trump is such a divisive character, of course in the news so much at the moment, and I had no surprise at all when he was refuting these allegations, he said that the Queen and him gone on famously.
Well, this new book was a load of rubbish.
I mean, the issues which I think are at play here, it's very much how we never really knew what the Queen was thinking until you know, you get these snippets in biographies somewhere down the line. And of course Trump was going to always say that these were basis allegations. He had a fantastic relationship with the late Queen and any member of the Raw family, which he completely admires.
He says, but I think you know.
When we saw what was happening at Windsor Castle that time, and I think you could tell the look on the Queen's face said it all.
Now on to the current royals and they've made it to Scotland for their summer vacation.
What have they been up to in the last week.
Well, it's an interesting time the summer period because of the royals take a back seat of the King and Queen are up in Scotland at the moment taking a bit of our and r of course, it's been such a tumultuous year for the royal family. The King's still undergoing treatment for cancer, the Princess of Wales going her
own treatment as well. It's been very very fractured in terms of the way that the family has been able to unite, and I think they have pulled together, but we haven't seen many engagements, we haven't seen many royal tours. But I think the second half of the year is going to be incredibly busy, especially for the King and Queen getting down to Australia and.
Samoa for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting.
But the summer period is very much a case of the family coming together. We're going to see Prince and Princess of Wales up in Scotland as well.
That the local villages in Ballata.
Near Balmoral were able to see the King and Queen this week. So there's going to be a very busy autumn period, but very much a family affair over the summer months.
And there was an interesting note in the Daily Mail UK this week about how much the King and the new Prime Minister Kirstama will have to discuss at their next audience. It doesn't give us much detail about what they might discuss, but what do you think would be top of mind for the King and the Prime Minister for that annual visit to bow Moral.
Well, as I say, you know, very much a family affair, but of course you have the constitutional elements of the King's job and that involves to be keeping on top of the government red boxes, keeping on top of what.
Is going on in the country.
And of course we have a new government here in the UK and Sakis Starmer will be invited to bow Moral as the annual event for the Prime Minister of the day takes place, and I think they'll be discussing what has been going on in this country recently. Of course you will have seen yourself. We've had a lot of disorder, riots taking to the streets and fortunately that
has all calmed down now. But we saw the King coming out and applauding the community spirit that faced down these protests and the disorder that had been pretty much.
Widespread across the UK. So I think there's a lot for them to discuss.
Of course, Sakis starm was just feeling his way into the new job and the King is looking forward to sort of kicking.
On in this sort the last period of this.
Year, as I said, the autumn tour coming down under hopefully I'll be on the plane to come and get to see you guys as well, Caro.
That would be absolutely fabulous.
Now, we have discussed on this show before the likelihood of the Sussex Children potentially featuring in their next Netflix series, but a report this week that the kids won't appear. Now, given recent comments made by the Sussexes in their Nigeria and Colombia visits, this would seem pretty prudent.
Right, Yeah, I think so.
I think there's often been criticism of the way that Sussexes have handled themselves throughout the last couple of years. They had this controversial mini tour, if you will, to Columbia recently, and they're going to have been very very vocal about this sort of the scourge of social media. Putting their children out there is not something for them, and they're often discussing them in terms of how lovely they aren't, how they're growing up to be great kids.
But I think if they were to feature in the Netflix documentary, they could open themselves to to all sorts of criticism. And I think there's been a lot of heavy heat at the Sussex's door recently and whether they do want the privacy element. It's often very difficult for them to sort of finally balance and finally.
Tune that part of their life. So I think it's probably a wise decision.
Well, no, never an argument from me about keeping kids out of the public, hie. Now, lastly, there's been quite a sensational claim that Prince Harry may ask the King for financial support if those Netflix deals or that Netflix deal falls over. Obviously it's speculation, but is there any likelihood of that happening.
I've got about forty seconds for you.
Well, listen, I think the King and Harry's relationship has been incredibly fractured, hasn't it over the last few years. But whether Harry would sort of come back capping hand to his father, I think you have a little bit more pride than that, and you never know, maybe the next book deal is around the corner to sort of fill Harry's coffers once more.
Well, we will say, no doubt, we will be watching Russell meis as always, Thank you so much for joining us.
Now.
Lastly, new one pound coins featuring King Charles's.
Effigy entered circulation in the UK on Tuesday.
Now.
The three million coins have been issued to post offices and banks across Britain and they feature engravings of bees on the reverse side. And they mark the second of eight new editions featuring King Charles to be released into circulation now. The Rayal Mint expects the other yet to be released coins to enter circulation throughout the remainder of twenty twenty four. And that's the show for tonight, Thank you so much for joining us.
Up next is Newsnight